Digimon: New Age
by Jenrukiforevz
Summary: In a last attempt to save their world from the mysterious Dark Mist, a group of digimon call upon a selcted few children in hopes that they will save them. However, miscalculations turn the situation to something more complicated, and what is sent to them is not what they expected. (Warning: is an OC story, but I assure you it's worth the read)
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Hi guys! This is the prologue to a new digimon OC fanfiction that I will be writing. It's a big project of mine, and I would apprecciate any support. Be warned that the digi-destined and all major digimon/characters will most likely be OCs. I try to describe them as best I can, but I will also try to draw them and post them on a deviantART account if I can. If I do, I will make sure that you guys know and will post the link. Thanks, and enjoy.**

* * *

Prologue

The Digital World was peaceful for once.

It was a nice change from the ceaseless war cries and blood-shed that the digimon had grown accustomed to. On most days, you could physically see the dispersed data, meaning that yet another digimon had died that day. All of the resources that kept a digimon alive: food, water, and shelter, had forsaken them, and had dissappeared to the depths of the Digital World, which left scarcely any on ground level. There was no such thing as a cloud that wasn't black, or a forest that wasn't made out of dead, withering undergrowth. Life seemed to drag on in black and white.

All of this caused the digimon inhabitants to live in fear, just thinking of wether they were going to survive the next hour or so. Because all the things that made anything worthwhile had disappeared from life itself. Nowhere was safe.

Centarumon, however, still remembered the days before the Dark Mist had made its grand entrance into the Digital World,

_It is not the time to reminisce._

Centarumon was on an important mission, and he could not forget what his target was. If he failed, then the digimon would soon die out, and the world he loved would be doomed to non-existence.

As he walked past the leafless trees that that had once been the pride and joy of File Island, he heard something that made him start. He took a few steps backward, his eyes glued to an area of decaying bushes, which rustled slightly.

"Who goes there?!" he demanded, his arm ready to burst out an attack at any moment.

"Don't fear, it's only me."

A red head popped out of the shadows, followed by a short body and nine tails. The digimon was completely red, with purple markings decorating its legs and back. Its tails were like peacock feathers, and his paws finished off in long white claws.

Centarumon instantly relaxed. It was just Elecmon.

"Are they ready?" he asked, paying attention to his surroundings. The Dark Mist had taken a break for now, but there was no telling when it would arise again. The last thing they both wanted was for it to learn of their plan.

Elecmon nodded. "We better get there soon. Leomon and Andromon can't hold off the Black Mist for long if it decides to strike."

"Agreed."

They pair traveled together in silence through the forest. They wanted to stay alert, and they didn't want to attract the attention of the wild digimon roaming the wild.

The forest soon ended, opening up to a clearing where children's toys lay broken on the floor, their pale gray color making it look unappealing. Empty cribs littered the grass, and the mood was dark. The place that had welcomed so many new digimon into their new home, was shattered.

Elecmon gave a shuddering breath before leading Centarumon across.

Centarumon felt pity for his friend. Elecmon used to be a very happy creature, caring for the fresh digimon until they digivolved to their In-Training forms. He had enjoyed every second of it, but when the Dark Mist showed its face, the land had become rotten, and less and less digimon were born, until none were left.

Nowadays, if a digimon died, they didn't come back.

Elecmon showed the way to a large toy block, then pushed it aside a portion to reveal a damp tunnel underneath. The smaller digimon had his comrade pass through, closed the gap, and lead the way once more.

The air inside the tunnels was musty and almost suffocating. Centarumon himself had a little trouble breathing as Elecmon weaved down several different tunnels, not bothering to check if Centarumon was even following.

Finally, Elecmon stopped. One of the tunnels had opened up so that there was plenty of space to move around. In it were Andromon and Leomon, who were gazing intently at ten digi-eggs wrapped in their own little blankets to keep them warm.

Leomon was a beast type digimon, and it was obvious why others would call him the king of the jungle. He was broad and strong, and his long mane just added to his elegant features. He always had a sword in a sheath which was attached to the back of his black pants. He also wore a red necklace and had big feet, the only thing that made him appear odd.

Andromon was different. He was a machine type digimon, which mostly meant that metal covered the majority of his body. He had various gears all around, and one of his feet was pink and bony, with black claws at the end. For the most part, he resembled an experiment gone wrong, but his heart was always in the right place.

The pair looked up from their previous occupation to greet them.

"Centarumon, good to see you again," Andromon said, his metallic voice echoing throughout the room.

"Quiet down, Andromon. We musn't be heard," Leomon instructed as he offered his hand to Centarumon.

The centaur digimon took it, then got down to business as he redirected his eyes to the eggs in the center of the room.

"Those are the only ones left?" he asked with a tone of sadness. He was certainly expecting more.

Elecmon sighed. "I'm afraid so. I waited for days, but those were the only ones that came through. These are the last digi-eggs the Digital World has to offer."

Leomon's eyes turned into slits. "You mean, that there won't be any more?"

Elecmon shook his head. "The only way there _will _be is if the Dark Mist is defeated. Otherwise, all types of digimon will be wiped out."

The room was quiet for a moment, then, Centarumon clapped his hands together and said, "Let's get a move one, shall we? We need to transfer the eggs to my hideout. This place is no longer safe enough."

"Huh?" Andromon puzzled. "But yor place is far more exposed. Wouldn't it be better to keep them here?"

"No, if the Dark Mist ever decides to attack, there will be nothing to protect them. During my recent research, I've come across a virus protection program. Assuming what we're up against _is_ a virus, it should give us some good security for at least a few months. Just enough to have the eggs hatch and get some proper training into them," he answered.

"You were taught well," Leomon reflected.

Centarumon had always been gifted with knowledge. He could find out about anything in both the Digital and real worlds without moving from his comfortable home. It was a virtue that Leomon sometime's wished he had.

"However," he continued, another thought creeping into his mind. "What if the Dark Mist isn't a virus?"

Centarumon stared intently at the ground. "Then all is lost. If we stay here, we are in danger, but if we move, we still have a chance."

The digimon silently agreed on Centarumon's theory, then proceeded to make an official transfer plan.

Before they could get very far though, the sound of paws alerted them.

At the entrance to the tunnel, another digimon skidded to a halt.

"The Dark Mist knows! He's coming!"

The speaker was LadyCoyomon, a coyote-like digimon. Her pelt was the color of sand, with the exception of her paws and her two tail tips, which were a shade of soft purple. She had a long snout, and large pointy ears that caught every sound within a mile. A purple bandanna was tied around her neck, and a square, silver earring glimmered in her left ear.

"What?!" Elecmon jumped to his feet.

LadyCoyomon nodded. "He's coming! I was barely able to escape. My brother..." her voice choked, her eyes filled with grief. "He wasn't so lucky."

The rest of the digimon sprang into action.

"Get the eggs!" Centarumon directed, grabbing a pair, and putting one in each side of the two-sided satchel he had on his back.

Leomon and the others did the same. LadyCoyomon took one in her mouth, as she had nothing else to carry it with, and Leomon and Andromon each took another. Elecmon took one in his mouth, and had Leomon put another on his back, his tails pressed against it so that it wouldn't fall down.

Before the other eggs were retrieved, an attack shook the ground, making Andromon drop his egg.

The earth ceiling of the tunnel began to crumble, and soon, a large chunk fell off on three of the eggs.

"No!" Elecmon screamed, his hard work for nothing.

"We have to leave with the eggs we have. Go!" Centarumon commanded, letting Elecmon show them the way out.

"Wait, what about Andromon?" Leomon pointed out.

Andromon was stuck in some of the dirt that had fallen. He was slowly wriggling free, and his egg was still on the ground beside him.

"Don't worry, I know my way out. Go ahead, I'll catch up," Andromon instructed.

Leomon wanted to object, but Centarumon's stare stopped him. He knew that there simply was no time.

The group sped up, Elecmon barely able to run fast enough so that he wouldn't get trodden over by the much bigger digimon. Once they were out of the tunnels, Elecmon's ears dropped and his eyes widened in terror.

"I left an egg down there! When I screamed I dropped an egg!" he exclaimed, trying to get down the hole again.

"It's too late! We have to trust Andromon that he'll find it," Leomon objected, pushing Elecmon away from the tunnel entrance. "Now, stay close to me."

Leomon unsheathed his sword from its scabbard and held it up threateningly in front of him before running at full speed towards Centarumon's hideout. The rest of the group followed closely behind, checking behind them a couple of times to make sure they weren't being followed.

All seemed well at first, but halfway to their destination, a black fog could be seen gaining on them. Andromon was nowhere in sight.

As soon as the Black Mist was in sight, wild digimon appeared in their path. Their eyes were all black, even the digimon who would otherwise be peaceful. They were now under the control of the Dark Mist's power.

Leomon sliced away at them with his sword. The Dark Mist was toying with them at this point. The digimon he put in their way weren't even defending themselves. They were only slowing them down and wasting their energy.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon shouted, an orange beam in the shape of a lion spurting out of his fist.

Elecmon joined in as well. "Sparkling Thunder!" Many smaller lightning bolts shot out of his tails, striking a nearby Floramon, who was thrown aside instantly.

Centarumon and LadyCoyomon decided to conserve their energy in case they needed it later. The Dark Mist was getting closer, and who knows what was in store for them if it did reach them.

"We're almost there!" Centarumon announced. Only a couple more minutes and they would be there. Hopefully, they wouldn't get into anymore trouble.

The Dark Mist was only a few yards away, and the digimon kept blocking their path. There was no way they were going to make it.

**"LadyCoyomon digivolve to... RenegadeRenamon!"**

Thank goodness for miracles.

LadyCoyomon was now much bigger. She was a dark purple color, with a white underbelly and paws. A white bandanna tied around her face so that it covered her muzzle replaced her purple one, and she had grown an extra tail. To her enormous delight, she could now stand on only two legs.

With one egg under one arm, she raised the other one and yelled, "Sandstorm!"

As implied, a sand storm fell upon the Dark Mist, which writhed in the air. While it was blinded, the group made their way past the remaining digimon goons and into a secret passage on the side of a mountain.

The cave was much smaller than anticipated. There was only three rooms: the main room, where all of Centarumon's gadgets lay on large tables and big screens, a smaller room, presumably for him, and another one about the same size, which was decorated like a nursery.

"We made it!" RenegadeRenamon exclaimed, planting her egg rather forcefully onto a table.

"We must not get exited yet," Centarumon warned. "We're not out of danger quite yet..."

The cave fell silent. No one dared to even breath. Gradually, the time passed, and it was until an hour later, that Elecmon proclaimed it safe.

Andromon never arrived.

Elecmon made himself and the five eggs comfortable in the nursery, making sure that each one was warm and unharmed before tucking them in into a separate crib. Quite a few remained empty.

"You really take this seriously, don't you?" RenegadeRenamon watched from the door.

"Of course I do," Elecmon snapped, angry at himself for letting half of his eggs be left behind. "They represent the Digital World's future."

Elecmon curled up on a few blankets on the floor, yawning.

"Without them, there is no future."


	2. Keiji Meets A Dragon

**Digimon: New Age Chapter 1**

"Keiji Kimoto! What did you do to Ichiro this time?"

Keiji put his game on pause and turned around. At the doorway to the room that he shared with two other boys stood Ms. Isobe, the head of the orphanage. Ichiro, an annoying little brat two years younger than him, was beside her, his face screwed up in a pout.

Keiji shrugged, returning to his game. He was at the boss level, and the dragon was so far being beaten to a crisp.

"Mr. Kimoto!" Ms. Isobe shouted, stomping her foot on the ground.

Keiji ignored her. If he didn't finish soon, he'd have to stop the game since it was almost time to go to school. He did not feel like restarting the level, and if he succeeded, he would officially have beaten Daiki, the other kid who he had to put up with.

"That's it!" the old lady cried. She marched into the room, and before Keiji could stop her, yanked the console's plug from its socket. The screen went blank, and he knew that all his progress was gone.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, jumping up from his spot on the carpet. He dropped his controller and yelled, "What was that for?"

Ms. Isobe sighed, putting a hand up to her temple. "When will you learn to behave, Mr. Kimoto? Maybe then, you would get adopted."

Keiji muttered angrily under his breath. He hated that woman. She was always telling him the same thing. Everything he ever did was wrong according to her. He didn't even mind whether he got adopted or not. All he desired was to get away from her.

Ms. Isobe took a deep breath, and blew out. It was a practice that she was famous for. Keiji swore that she couldn't last a single day without doing it at least thrice, especially when he was around. Even his mere presence caused her to panic.

"Alright," she began, adjusting her posture. "I want you to now tell me what caused Ichiro to come an report to me."

"Beats me," he answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Liar!" Ichiro accused from the entrance, pointing his index finger at Keiji as if it was some sort of weapon. "He's been on that Play Station since last night. I don't even think he got more than four hours of sleep, and he distracted the rest of us from resting. And them in the morning, he refuses to give it up!"

"Hey! I was on it first, and I just needed one level left! I even told you so!" Keiji retorted, his hands bunching up into fists. It looked as if the two teenagers were going to have a go at it, but Ms. Isobe broke it up before it could begin.

"I will not tolerate any violence in this building!" she announced, placing herself carefully between the pair. "Now," she continued, "Mr. Kimoto will have to scrub the toilets after lunch, and Mr. Sasaki can babysit the younger children once it's free-play."

The boys grunted in response, clearly annoyed of their punishments. Keiji often received bathroom duty due to all the trouble he got into, and wasn't surprised. However, it did not mean that he enjoyed the task whatsoever. The toddlers, who were barely getting potty-trained, often missed the target, and if his hand slipped, he spent the next five minutes washing his hands to make sure there wasn't anything on them.

"The bus will be here in ten minutes, so get your things ready and report at the driveway. You do not want to be responsible for the tardiness of others," Ms. Isobe finished, and left the room.

"Thanks a lot," Keiji complained to Ichiro while stuffing his notebooks and the Gameboy he managed to scrape up the money to buy into his hand-me-down backpack. It was boring enough to listen to his English teacher drone on and on about the order the words were put in a sentence, so he usually just started playing when no one was looking.

"It was your fault," Ichiro replied over his shoulder, already making his way downstairs.

Keiji just rolled his eyes, and slung on his backpack. He quickly surveyed himself in the mirror and slapped his hat on (backwards of course) so that only a tuft of red hair could poke through and made sure his goggles were facing the right way from their place around his neck. Other than that, he wore a sleeveless gray shirt with a blue stripe in the middle and khaki shorts along with some donated tennis shoes.

The kids called him crazy for wearing the rusty goggles since there really wasn't a good reason for keeping them. However, it was Keiji's dream to become a pilot one day and finally take to the skies. And although he wouldn't be flying off anytime soon, Keiji kept them at his reach at all times just in case some stranger in an airplane happened to invite him on an adventure. It was a stupid idea, but he could dream. Anything was possible, and if there was a chance of ditching the orphanage, he would take it.

Maybe that was why he idolized dragons so much, even if he had to kill them in his games. He could only dream of spreading enormous wings and be free to do as he liked. Nobody would be able to stand up to him, and if they did, they wouldn't stand a chance. But they didn't exist, and the pictures of them on his wall would have to do for the moment.

He slid down the rail once he was ready, an action that would have given poor Ms. Isobe a heart attack had she been there. Out of everyone in the orphanage, he was the most daring, and everything he did was done to the extreme. He ran past the cluster of kids on the first floor and out the door, where everyone of the appropriate age was loading onto the high school bus.

He waited his turn to get on and then took his usual seat at the very back. The same voices greeted him, even though he didn't have any real friends. Not because he didn't want them or because he wasn't likeable, just because he preffered to just play his games in his spare time and no one really cared about those. Keiji didn't mind, and neither did anyone else. It had always been that way.

Koemi Tsukino, Emi for short, and her friend Rieko Aoyama sat in the seat next to him like they did every day. They rarely spoke to each other, but Koemi always said hi once he was settled. Today was no different.

"Hey, Keiji!" she smiled, staring sideways at him. Unlike most girls, Koemi tended to have a wardrobe full of the same stuff. Her light brown hair was tied up in her signature side ponytail, and she had the same black sneakers on. She wore black leggings, and today's hoodie was bright purple with white stripes. She never failed to brighten up his day, whether it was with her flawless smile or her deep chocolate eyes. Not that he liked her or anything; Keiji didn't really care for stuff like that.

Rieko, on the other hand, was extremely quiet, and never spoke up. She simply gave a shy smile, and remained silent. Keiji could tell she was insecure: her long blue hair covered half of her face so that he couldn't make out her eyes, and her knitted black sweater was long enough so that the sleeves covered the entirety of her arms. She wore some average jeans, and brown fuzzy boots that Keiji couldn't imagine wearing in the heat.

He smiled, and waved, then went back to staring out the window as the bus started moving. The vehicle was filled with its usual chatter: gossip about none other than Satoru Arai and Kaito Fujioka, the most popular guys in school, and recent news about the school clubs and events.

Keiji never truly hated the ride to school, but if he detested anything, it was when the bus slowed at the next stop. Satoru and Kaito were at that stop, and every time they came in, a group of girls that sat at the front giggled and invited them over. They refused politely most of the time, and then proceeded to sit in the seat in front of him.

Today, they didn't disappoint. Satoru was one of the few people who moved to Japan from America, an attribute that many girls enjoyed, and to top it all off, he was nothing short of handsome. He had night black hair that was well-groomed, piercing green eyes, and tan skin. His atire, a black tee shirt with a green zipper hoodie over it. He had soccer pants on and sporty shoes used to play soccer. In other words, he looked like a stereotypical jock.

Kaito was pretty much the same, except he was more violent, and tended to get in fights. And, not to be rude, not as handsome as his pal, which always put him on edge.

Once they were seated, the last person who Keiji paid any attention to on the bus arrived: Benjiro Matsuno. Benjiro was an interesting person. He was normally quiet, but not because he was shy like Rieko. Everyone knew he came from a relatively wealthy family, and everything about him was classy and formal. He had dark brown hair, with soft green eyes, fair skin, and he wore a red tee with a pair of jeans and some Jordans. It was a rather simple outfit for such an introverted person.

He took his seat, which was diagonal from Keiji's and behind some feminist punk named Haru, and almost instantly, Emi stood up and started chatting with him. From what Keiji could understand, Benjiro and Emi were childhood friends, or something of the sort. He assumed it wasn't mutual though, because Benjiro was nearly always annoyed at her constant blabbering.

"Hey, Benji!" Keiji overheard Emi greet Benjiro with the nickname that lead new kids at school to think they were dating.

"It's Ben," he replied, rolling his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Koemi laughed, patting his head, much to his irritation. "I much prefer Benji. Ben is just too cliché, don't you think?"

"And who said clichés are a bad thing?" he questioned, before the bus driver urged Emi to sit back down.

After a while, he took his Gameboy out a bit early. He didn't usually take it out before English, but what entertained him on the bus were the conversations going on around him, and the bus driver had killed them all off sooner than expected.

He started playing, but only got into it for about a couple of minutes before it started to glitch. Keiji tried to restart it, but the thing wouldn't turn off.

"What the?" he puzzled as the screen turned completely blank and a message popped up: _**Hold on tight. **_

All of a sudden, the bus filled up with screams coming from the front. Keiji threw his device into his backpack and held it tight. What was going on?

"The driver passed out!" someone shouted.

"Isn't there a button to stop this thing?!" another voice cried.

Keiji peered out the window to see that the bus was veering away from the road into a ditch. He let a yell escape from his mouth, and soon, everyone was joining in.

"I can help!"

Keiji managed to see who was speaking. _Of course it would be him, who else?_

Hideki Kudo, the bravest person Keiji knew of at school. He was the captain of the wrestling team, and the president of the student council. Some even dared to say he was braver than most leaders in the world. Keiji figured they were overreacting a bit.

Hideki was well-built, and came in second only to Satoru and Kaito. He didn't mind though, he was too modest.

Hideki sprinted to the dashboard and stared intently at the buttons and levers. "Kazumi?"

Hideki was never without his most trusted friend, Kazumi Faust, the brightest and most talented girl at school. She was in all of the advanced classes, and ran several clubs dealing with math, books, and anything that required knowledge. Admittedly, she was also very popular among the boys; she did have the German charm after all.

"Pull the lever up there," she instructed, her finger pointing to a tiny blue lever above Hideki's head. "And make sure to pull the break by pressing the diamond button next to the steering wheel. The bus should stop afterward, and all we need to do is gently push the door open."

He nodded, doing everything in a hurry. Keiji could see that the bus was completely off the road now, and that the ditch was looming closer...

"Done!" Hideki stated loudly so that everyone could hear him.

Cheers and applause erupted from all around. Hideki and Kazumi smiled and gave each other a high five. "We should probably find some help," Kazumi suggested.

"Alright everyone slowly file out and-" Hideki began, but was interrupted when everyone practically crashed into him, trying to be the first one out. Apparently, not everyone was convinced that they were saved quite yet.

"No! We have to do this slowly or else-" Kazumi warned, but it was too late by then.

The weight at the front of the bus caused it to lean to one side. Loose dirt sprayed from beneath the wheels, and before Keiji knew it, the bus started tumbling and the world around him blackened.

* * *

"Hmmm, this is rather odd."

"Wait, this wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Indeed, but what else can we possibly do? What's done is done."

"What will we do?"

"We'll just have to work with what was sent. They can't possibly be that bad."

"But this wasn't according to plan... Are they even alive?"

Keiji heard several voices speaking at once, yet he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. He was exhausted for some reason, and he couldn't remember why. He felt something poke him, and he mumbled in response.

"This one is."

"Mine too!"

"Look, this one just woke up!"

Keiji opened his eyes and, to his surprise, saw a dog-sized purple dragon staring down at him. It had small yellow horns at the top of its head, wing-like ears, and three sharp white claws at the end of each of its two wings. It has three claws at the end of each foot as well, and red markings were visible under its ribs. A beak-like mouth took up most of its face, along with sweet green eyes and a tail that fit a dinosaur more than a dragon.

"Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh!" Keiji must have been dreaming. There was no way in real life that a dragon could be standing before him. It _was_ inspecting him oddly, but it was a dragon nontheless.

He immediately started gushing over it, and squeezing him so hard that Keiji thought the thing's eyeballs might have popped out.

"Hey! Hey, help! Mine wants to choke me!" it called. Keiji recognized the voice as male, and thought, Even better!

"Calm down, sir. It appears your killing off my friend here..." someone else calmly requested, patting him with something fluffy.

Keiji laughed nervously and let the little creature go. "Sorry."

Just as he said that, a large lion wearing pants and a sword at its belt held a strange device with blinking lights to his head. He was very masculine, and a red necklace made out of what looked like bones was around his neck.

"Keiji Kimoto, age fifteen almost sixteen," he droned, reading what the screen told him.

"How did you know that?" Keiji panicked, feeling uneasy.

"Koemi Tsukino, age fifteen," he continued, moving to Emi, whom he just noted was waking up to his left.

Beside, her Rieko stirred, and he noticed that Ben was already sitting up. His calculating gaze had already searched the room, and he barely took notice of the swan that was seated at his feet. It was completely white, the only exception being it's orange beak and blue tinted wings. Feathers poked from both sides of its head, in which two golden, loop-shaped earrings hung. A thick metal ring was around one of its feet, and gorgeous blue eyes waited expectantly for Ben to acknowledge it.

Once Keiji's initial excitement had worn out, he checked his surroundings. He was in some sort of cavern from what he could tell, and strange animals were watching him and the others come to their senses. Besides the lion, there was a deformed centaur, with purple orbs plotting its body and a helmet over its head, and a red creature with nine tails and purple markings.

"Rieko Aoyama, fourteen almost fifteen, and Benjiro Matsuno, fifteen," the same voice announced as he made his way down the line.

This caused Rieko to fully open her eyes, and when she did, she screamed. Before her hovered a tiny bird, only an inch larger than the size of her fist. It resembled a hummingbird in a way: the same beak and figure, except a few characteristics were slightly off. This one had a larger chest with beautiful feathers of shades of blue and green. Three feathers stuck up from its head, and a golden ribbon was tied around its neck. The wings had what appeared to be razors at the end, and its green eyes were much larger than average. Although Keiji didn't know exactly what gender most of them were, he guessed that it was female.

Rieko cowered, and pressed herself against the far wall, putting her hands up to cover her face.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you!" the thing assured, flying a little closer, but Rieko just whimpered a bit.

Emi, on the other hand, had finally awakened and was frantically crushing a miniature blue bunny. It had one ear up and the other one bent, and black beady eyes. It had white fur around its neck and belly, and his nose was the color of charcoal. Its feet were pretty big, and a sash with grenades on it was slung from its shoulder. Keiji could tell that his cuteness was too much for Emi to bear.

"You are so cute! I'm gonna keep you!" Koemi declared, pressing the poor thing closer.

"If you wouldn't mind Miss, I would deeply appreciate it if you let me breathe..." it struggled. Keiji was surprised that the voice was male, but didn't pry any further.

"What are you?" somebody else puzzled from Keiji's opposite side.

Keiji was surprised to see none other than Satoru on his right, a deer casually sniffing him. The fawn reached up to about the height of his knee, and two lightning shaped horns protruded from the top of its head. It was black in color, with yellow markings stretching all over its back. It's hooves ended sharply, and a lightning bolt was on each of its knees. It had a cute tuft for a tail and although everything about him _looked_ menacing, its amber eyes were joyful.

The lion creature walked past him and stated, "Satoru Arai, sixteen."

The bunny that Emi had been cuddling managed to escape and coughed loudly, regaining his breath. "I think we've had enough introductions. Centarumon?"

The centaur monster nodded, turned to face everyone and formally addressed them, "Welcome, everyone!"

"If I may ask, I'd like to know where I am, considering the last thing I remember is falling into a ditch," Ben spoke up, still ignoring the swan.

Keiji then remembered what had happened prior to arriving. The words _**Hang On**_ were still implanted into his memory.

"You may not!" the swan retorted angrily. "Considering you haven't given Centarumon enough time to properly explain himself." She had not yet been spoken to by Ben, and Keiji could tell that it was annoying her.

"Well..."

"It's alright, Cisnemon. My apologies, " the centaur interrupted. "My name is Centarumon, and these are my comrades, Leomon and Elecmon." He motioned his hands towards the two others behind him and took a bow. "And these are-"

"I can introduce myself!" the swan declared. "I'm Cisnemon."

"You kind of already got introduced already," Keiji pointed out.

Cisnemon just glared at him from a distance. The dragon whispered into Keiji's ear, "You'd better watch your back from now on; she tends to keep a grudge."

"I heard that!" Cisnemon grumbled.

Keiji smirked as the dragon's face turned red. "I think you should too," he added.

The deer coughed loudly for attention and raised a hoof up to its chest, "Bambimon's the name." It winked afterwards, and Keiji had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud. It's voice had proven itself male, but he acted quite charming, something he found amusing.

"I'm Amaimon! Wanna be friends?" the hummingbird greeted, trying to stop Rieko from avoiding her.

The rabbit gave Koemi a polite bow and said, "Lepusmon, ready to serve."

Lastly, the dragon spun on his heels to face Keiji and saluted him. "Itazuramon reporting!"

Keiji saluted in return, fighting the urge to jump on Itazuramon and go on a ride. "I'm Keiji, nice to meet you."

"Oh, we know," Lepusmon said as if it was obvious. "The machine has got all of your information on it already."

"That's sort of creepy," Emi admitted. Rieko, who finally trusted Amaimon enough to stop shying away, nodded in agreement.

"Will you stop it?" Satoru moaned, pushing Bambimon's head out of his head.

"Sorry," Bambimon's apologized. "Your hair smells like honey!"

Satoru sighed, "It's called cologne."

"My question still hasn't been answered," Ben prodded, eager to understand everything.

"Ahh," Centarumon soothed. "Yes, I believe I haven't. Let me explain."

Everyone awaited his explanation. Keiji was curious as to what his purpose here was, unless he was already dead or merely dreaming. Was he in a hospital at the moment? Was everything just an illusion he was experiencing?

"You are all located in the Digital World, a separate world from yours," Centarumon continued. A couple of gasps were heard, and Rieko silently broke down. Even Amaimon's greatest efforts couldn't cheer her up.

"We are digimon, short for digital monsters, that have inhabited this world from the beginning of its creation. It's normally been a very simple and peaceful world, but a recent threat has thrown it into darkness, and only very few digimon have been able to keep themselves sustained."

"That's awful!" Koemi commented, pulling Lepusmon closer once more in the process.

Centarumon nodded, then continued, "The enemy we are facing is called the Dark Mist, a mystery entity that takes digimon under its control, and has made resources scarce. To fight this evil, we managed to use an ancient magic to bring you all here."

"Ancient magic?" Satoru puzzled.

Centarumon nodded. "The Digital World, which has access to all sorts of technology, has its way of communicating with the Real World. We call this magic."

"Okay, but why are we here? Are you expecting us to fight for you?" Ben asked, perplexed, yet calm.

"Obviously not."

All eyes veered to the corner of the room, where a large coyote had just appeared. She was dark purple, with a white bandana covering her snout and three tails. She somehow had the ability to walk on two legs despite her weight, and she spoke in a deep and elegant voice.

"RenegadeRenamon, I'm glad you made your way back safely," Elecmon said, his voice filled with relief.

She nodded curtly, making her way to the center of the room. "Are these them?" she asked.

"They were sent," Lepusmon replied with a tone that RenegadeRenamon understood.

Ben coughed slightly, trying to get everyone on track.

"Gosh, would it kill you to be patient for once?" Cisnemon rolled her eyes.

Benjiro snorted. "I'm just naturally curious is all."

"Anyways..." RenegadeRenamon changed the topic. "You won't be fighting directly, but humans are said to have special qualities that can make digimon more powerful. Not only that, but they are the only ones that can activate the element stones, hidden crystals that allow digimon to advance to their strongest form."

"So, in other words," Keiji wondered, "we're just here to help you win this thing without actually doing anything? All we have to do is be there to help you guys get stronger?"

Itazuramon nodded. "You leave all the work to us. We've trained our whole lives for this, and we know what to do. Of course, you'll have to be committed to one digimon, but I don't think that will be a problem; you've all chosen one already."

"Chosen? More like you were the first thing I saw," Keiji admitted.

"Can I trade?" Satoru pleaded, now inching his way to the other side of the room so he could avoid Bambimon.

Centarumon bowed deeply to the humans, Leomon, Elecmon, and the rest following his example. "We beg of you to help us. You may be our only hope."

"I think I'll stay," Ben said, finally landing a pat on Cisnemon's head. She didn't really appreciate the exchange.

"C'mon, Rieko! Let's do it together!" Emi insisted.

"I just wanna go home..." she murmured, causing Amaimon to frown and fold her wings.

"You may decline, but it took a lot of energy to get you here, and it might take a while for us to gather enough to send you home once more," Centarumon explained.

"And you heard them, we don't have to do anything!" Koemi tried to convince.

Rieko sighed. "Fine, as long as I don't get eaten." Amaimon instantly brightened up at the news and made a petite chirpy noise.

"You won't regret it, Rieko! It will be so much fun!" she chattered. Rieko got up the nerve to touch the bird, and let it land on her shoulder.

Emi squealed and hugged her friend, obviously excited. Amaimon had to dig her feet into Rieko's sweater so she wouldn't fall off.

"If it gets me home in the end, I'll tag along," Satoru shrugged. Bambimon's eyes lightened up and he jumped into Satoru's arms.

"We'll have jolly fun, just you wait!" Bambimon joyfully exclaimed. Satoru instantly dropped him.

"I'm in on one condition," Keiji instructed.

Itazuramon looked up, "Hm?"

"I get a free ride of course!" he shouted, staring intently at Itazuramon's wings.

"I can't right now, but when I evolve, I sure can!" Itazuramon asserted.

"Let's do this!" Keiji fist-pumped his new partner.

Keiji finally had what he wanted: an adventure. He had gotten away from Ms. Isobe, and he was going to take flight soon enough. What more could he ask for? For some reason, he was sure that he had a deeper purpose in the Digital World.

Itazuramon wasn't so convinced.


	3. The Not So Dream Team part 1

**A/N: Thank you to my not-so-anonymous reviewer that gave the name away for giving me last-minute ideas! (For the sake of the challenge I won't call you out) Thanks to all who reviewed so far, even though there's only a few. Sorry for taking so long, but I had other things to catch up on. Enjoy!**

**P.S. I'm focusing on one character for the first five chapters, but afterwards, there will be a change of POV so bear with me. Also, I know the characters are pretty bland right now, but I hope to show their true colors in due time, so be patient!**

* * *

Emi awoke the next morning with an air of excitement. They hadn't had the chance to do anything yet, so the so-called "team" had slept the night before after a nice supper and quite a bit of small talk.

Even if it had only been morning when they were called to the Digital World, it took time to cross the barrier between both places, and their bodies had been exhausted by the time they were converted into data. Some hadn't believed that their bodies weren't entirely physical anymore, especially Rieko and Satoru, but Keiji thought it was cool, Ben accepted it like he did with everything else, and Emi decided that it didn't really matter as long as she was back to normal by the end of it all.

Emi stretched herself a little and walked over to the set of machines on the far side of the room. Centarumon had taught her how to use one of them to see the surface of several parts of the Digital World, but to Emi's surprise, it was still dark outside.

"There is no definite night or day in the Digital World anymore, I'm afraid."

Emi turned around to see Lepusmon speaking to her, rubbing his eyes with his paw in the process.

"How come?" she puzzled.

"The Dark Mist has control over that. When it feels like daylight, it's day. When it decides it wants the dark, it's nighttime. It's hard to imagine it any other way nowadays."

Emi smiled, crouching down. "You're pretty smart, huh?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Lepusmon asked, his face clouded with confusion.

"Nevermind," Emi answered, patting his head.

"Okay, I'm just happy you're letting me breathe now."

"I guess it was just my initial reaction," Koemi laughed, then took a look behind her to see everyone else asleep. "We're the only ones up?"

"It appears so."

"No! Burgermon come back!" Itazuramon shouted, his arms flailing and his wings flapping.

"I stand corrected," Lepusmon sighed.

"Shut up, will you?" Keiji grunted, slowly waking up and hitting his digimon over the head.

"You weren't in the middle of a desert with no food or money! You would've been happy to see a Burgermon too if you were there-"

Keiji bonked the dragon digimon again before answering, "You weren't there either, to be fair."

"Thank you for interrupting my peaceful sleep," Cisnemon complained, unfolding her wings and stretching her neck from where she had been curled up next to Ben.

"Yes, I appreciate it as well," Bambimon joined in sarcastically. Electricity seemed to be fizzing on his fur causing it to puff out because of the static.

"For once, I agree with the little dude," Satoru yawned. Emi couldn't contain her laughter any longer after she saw his hair as well, which was a complete mess since he hadn't washed the gel off it the day before. Even if the pair didn't see eye to eye, they did have a few things in common.

Ben arose without comment and took in his surroundings before realizing where he was.

Amaimon started fluttering about, claiming that she was going to wake up soon anyways.

Rieko, on the other hand, yelped when she opened her eyes. Emi made her way over to her and asked, "Everything alright?"

She shook her head. "I was hoping this was one of those dreams that you have at a hospital. I agreed to stay because I expected nothing to be here today. But it is. I guess I was wrong after all."

"Don't worry," Amaimon landed at Rieko's feet. "I promise I'll keep you safe."

Before Rieko could reply back, the sound of hooves grabbed her attention.

"I see you've all woken up now. It's about time," Centarumon said as he entered the chamber the group was in. Emi wondered just how many rooms there were in the underground system. There appeared to be a lot, but she hadn't seen any other rooms besides the one they were currently in.

"Not completely, I'd say," Ben replied, straightening out his clothes. He wore the same serious expression as always. If only Emi could get him to laugh more often like when they were kids...

Her thoughts were interrupted by Lepusmon, who poked her leg. Apparently, Centarumon was about to announce something important. Emi gave her partner a quick nod so that he knew that she understood and looked attentively ahead.

Leomon and Elecmon arrived shortly, and by then, the whole group was lively enough to pay full attention to what the wiser digimon had to say.

"And RenegadeRenamon?" Centarumon puzzled.

"Out searching for breakfast again, I'm afraid," Elecmon exasperated, sitting down and making himself comfortable.

"That digimon thinks she has to do everything now that she's digivolved. Especially after the Andromon incident," Leomon added.

"Andromon...?" Ben questioned, staring down at Cisnemon in search of some sort of information. Cisnemon just glared at him and swung her head elsewhere.

Centarumon ignored the confused expressions around him and said, "Today, you'll all go outside and explore for a while. Not too far from here, just a mile or so. We'll be evaluating how you work as a team in the wild so we know where you stand and what we can improve on. Once you're off for real, one mistake can cost you your lives."

"But I thought that wasn't going to happen," Rieko piped up.

"It won't. We'll be close by in case you run into any danger. Your goal is to stay out there for 24 hours," Centarumon cleared out.

"That's not what I meant-"

"About time! It was boring being cooped up in here for so long!" Itazuramon exclaimed.

"What does he mean?" Emi looked down at her partner with interest.

"We aren't allowed to go outdoors very often," Lepusmon explained. "It's only when activity levels are low that we can, but even then it's for a limited amount of time. Last time we've gone out must've been… two months ago?"

"That long?"

Lepusmon nodded. "This will be the longest amount of time we've ever been out for. It isn't a surprise that he's be so excited."

"Don't forget that even though we will be patrolling the area in case of any trouble, you have to fend off whatever it is your fighting long enough for us to reach you. It shouldn't be too hard, but just in case, take these," Centarumon signaled to Elecmon. Elecmon nodded and brought forth a box full of strange devices.

"Each of you, take one," Centarumon instructed. "They're called digivices. If you are ever in any danger that you can't handle, then activate them and it will send an extra boost of energy to your assigned digimon. It will temporarily elevate their offense power to be on par with the power of a champion level digimon. Use it only as a last resort. We have to trust that you're strong enough as you are now."

One by one, the teens stepped up and chose a digivice, each of a different color. Keiji's was red, Rieko's was blue, Satoru's was dark green, Ben's was black, and Emi's was purple.

"How do you work this thing, exactly?" Satoru inspected the digivice he was holding.

The device was rectangle-shaped with a strap coming off the top part of it which had a keychain ring at the end. It also had a square screen with a wide array of buttons on the bottom of it, the most prominent one being a large red button in the middle.

"More importantly, can you play games on it?" Keiji experimented by pushing all of the buttons at once. Luckily for Itazuramon, it was off.

"First, there's an 'on' button. Secondly, just worry about the red button," Centarumon answered. "The rest are other features that I will explain to you in due time. And there are no games either."

"Nice try," Itazuramon sniggered.

"You really know how to improve my self-esteem, don't you?" Keiji shot back.

"Indeed."

Ignoring Itazuramon, Cisnemon asked, "When do we begin?"

"Right after RenegadeRenamon comes back with breakfast. Then, we'll send you out," Leomon answered this time.

"And when will she be back?" Bambimon groaned, flattening his fur with his hooves. Emi could hear his stomach rumbling from the other side of the room. It was only moments later that Satoru joined in.

"About now."

RenegadeRenamon was at the chamber's entrance, her two tails swishing in the air. In her arms she carried various round objects that looked like fruit. She laid them down on the floor before her and teased, "Dig in."

* * *

"You two can't get enough food, can you?" Emi laughed as Itazuramon left to fetch more food. Lepusmon sat beside her, calmly picking at his food.

"The orphanage has horrible cooks! Even something as plain as this has to be taken advantage of," Keiji insisted, taking another fruit from Itazuramon once he was back.

"Yeah," Itazuramon agreed. "RenegadeRenamon hasn't gotten us something so good in ages."

"At least you get actual meals," Satoru sighed. "My mom's a horrible cook and an even worse shopper, so we usually eat out or eat random stuff together. For breakfast a few days ago, I ate a slice of ham, a cookie, and a can of soda."

"Then you obviously should shop and cook yourself," Ben countered, only to be slapped on the head by Cisnemon's wing.

"You're being rude," she claimed. "Just because I'm stuck with you doesn't mean I'm gonna tolerate everything you do."

"Don't be so harsh, Cisnemon," Bambimon said. "He's just a boy."

"Yeah, a really annoying one."

"Well, in that case…" Ben slapped the swan digimon on the head as well.

"What was that for?" Cisnemon yelled, her eyes seeming to be throwing knives at Ben.

"You were being rude, not to mention disrespectful," he smirked.

Cisnemon remained silent and crossed her wings while the rest laughed.

The laughter was cut short, however, by Elecmon. He frowned and turned to RenegadeRenamon. "You took longer than usual," Elecmon pointed out, his eyes resembling those of a parent questioning their child.

"The orchard where I normally take our food from has been infected, and it's not easy to go and seek one out. It took me a while, but I found one at the edge of the Koromon village in the east." RenegadeRenamon raised her bandanna to munch on her breakfast.

"That's a dangerous place. You know fully well that nothing lives there anymore. If the Dark Mist ever-"

RenegadeRenamon shook her head. "I've stopped him before. I can do it again."

"You shouldn't be going off alone. Please allow me to go with you."

"Out of the question," RenegadeRenamon replied, lifting her voice only slightly. "You'll only get in the way. I'm fast, but your bulky, not to mention weaker than me since you're still at the rookie level."

"I'm far more experienced than you are and I know you tend to throw yourself into harmful situations!" Elecmon retorted. "If not I, then let Leomon accompany you. I worry about you when you're out. I don't want to grieve like I did for Coyomon."

"I've heard enough." RenegadeRenamon walked out, throwing the fruit's core to the ground and readjusting her bandanna over her snout.

"Why is Elecmon so protective all of a sudden?" Emi thought aloud.

"He's always been that way," Lepusmon explained as he continued to pick at his fruit. "He raised all of us, so he feels like our only parent in a way. Centarumon teaches us about all sorts of things, Leomon trains us in combat, RenegadeRenamon shows us how to survive out in the wild, but Elecmon takes care of all of us, RenegadeRenamon included. He's lived longer than any of us and used to tend to Primary Village, the place where digimon are born, before it was infected. He should have digivolved by now, but I'm not sure he really wants to."

_Ahh, so my comparison was pretty spot on, huh?_

"Got it," Emi said.

* * *

After the group finished their meal, they were led by Centarumon into a separate room where a large metallic door took up most of the space.

"Just let me finish up a few things, and then we can begin," Centarumon announced in a courteous manner.

Emi took that chance to move next to Rieko again, who still didn't feel comfortable with the whole situation. Rieko had a hard time accepting new things, so it was up to Emi to help cheer her friend up. And now that they were going to be exposed to a potentially threatening world they'd never seen before, Rieko must've been freaking out.

"How's Amaimon?" Emi inquired, referring to Rieko's hummingbird pal.

Rieko flinched a little since she hadn't noticed Emi's presence yet. "She's fine; I've gotten used to her now. She's actually really sweet, so it's hard to see her as a monster." She looked over at Amaimon, who was looking over Centarumon's shoulder.

"True," Emi agreed, thinking of Lepusmon.

"By the way, I've told you not to do that!" Rieko scolded playfully. "You'll be the death of me, I swear. A heart attack, lung failure, or anything else could happen to me while you're around."

Emi laughed and wiggled her index finger. "I'm just making sure that you're in good health. If I haven't killed you yet, then I probably never will."

"We'll see about that," Rieko smiled. It was probably the happiest Emi had seen her since they arrived in the Digital World. Still, she could tell that everyone was nervous, including herself.

Emi gripped her digivice tightly, entrusting that Lepusmon would keep her safe. She'd appreciate it if she could go back home in one piece. Before she could worry too much though, she thought of a question that had been bugging her for quite some time. Because she had already bombarded Lepusmon with tons of them, she was somewhat reluctant, but her curiosity got the best of her.

"Lepusmon?"

"Yes?" Lepusmon looked up.

"If we're here, then what happened to us back in the bus accident?"

"Your families have been misguided. According to them, all five of you are dead."

"Dead?" Satoru overheard their conversation. "What do you mean? We're right here, so our bodies should be gone too. We might be pronounced as 'missing', but not 'dead', surely?

"We copied all your data when you first got here," Leomon interjected as well. "We were then able to transport that data to the Real World and convert it so that it became physical. Fake bodies have been left at the scene of the accident and have been mistaken for the real thing."

"I am _so _gonna kill my mom when I get back…" Satoru mumbled. His hands were twitching, giving away what he was really feeling.

"Isn't it that _she's _gonna kill _you_?" Bambimon corrected.

"My mom is very sensitive. After she sees me after believing me to be dead, she's going to freak and scream and faint- I take it back. She'll probably kill me with a pan or whatever she has near her and then faint."

"Isn't it kind of mean to trick our parents like that?" Rieko piped up beside Emi. "I think my parents would be happier if I were missing instead of dead. That way they could still have some hope of me returning."

At the sound of Rieko's distressed voice, Amaimon flied over and sat on her head, nuzzling her reassuringly.

"It's true, but there is no telling when you'll be going back to your world," Centarumon explained.

"They would grieve either way, and wouldn't it be suspicious for all of you to have gone missing at the time of the accident? You could easily be blamed for the occurrence that way and that could interfere with your lives, which is not what we are here to do."

"I suppose it makes sense," Ben voiced. "It would certainly uncomplicated issues."

"It's about time you made sense," Cisnemon nodded approvingly.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean-" Satoru tried to object, but Keiji cut him off.

"It doesn't matter anymore; what's done is done," he shrugged. "I don't miss the orphanage, and the rest will be home soon, so let's just get our part of the deal done with as fast as we can if you're so concerned about it."

"You said something smart for once, huh?" Itazuramon poked fun at him.

"I think I'll start using Ben's behavioral system too," Keiji said threateningly, bopping the digimon straight down on his head with his fist, leaving a red mark.

"Ow!"

Satoru didn't add anything else to the conversation, so it died out quickly. By that time though, Centarumon had the equipment he needed to check up on ready and it was time to head out.

"There are no specific rules for this challenge. You'll have to find your own food and water, set up your own camp, and defend yourself from lurking digimon. If you ever encounter an uninfected digimon, contact us immediately," Centarumon said, his expression serious, not that he had much of one. "Understood?"

"Aye!" Amaimon answered for the whole team.

"Alright then, good luck."

RenegadeRenamon pulled a lever on a small contraption on the side of the room and the door began to creak slowly open. Emi's nerves sprung up and she unconsciously picked Lepusmon up and started squishing him.

"I thought we were past this?" he choked.

"Guess not," Emi laughed nervously.

The doors opened completely and Elecmon saluted them as they started moving. This was it.


	4. The Not So Dream Team part 2

**A/N: There are just a few things you should know. First, I know my transitions suck and that my description of the Digital World is pretty bad too. However, please try to ignore this.**

**Also, after reading this again, I realized that my description of the battle was sort of iffy as well. I'll include more detail next time when I don't need so much dialogue. **

**Lastly, for my sae reviewer: The reason of their specialty will be revealed next chapter. Don't worry, it'll be explained :) Hopefully, you'll like what I did. **

**Without further adeu (I'm not sure how that's spelled), enjoy!**

* * *

The Digital World was gloomier than Emi expected. The trees were so pale they could hardly be called green at all. The same could be said of the sky. As far as Emi knew, skies weren't supposed to look like wide expanses of emptiness. It seemed like the whole world was permanently dyed gray. The only one who dared disturb the silence was Itazuramon.

"Hurray!" Itazuramon yelped. He jumped up into the air with the help of his wings and let himself fall to the ground so he could roll on the dry leaves. "It's just like I remembered it!"

"You were excited to see _this_?" Emi puzzled. It didn't appeal to her at all.

"We were told that the Digital World used to be a very beautiful and pleasant place," Lepusmon said, "but we've never known anything else other than this. It's looked worse, believe me. This is one of the better days, when the Dark Mist is in a good mood."

"Remember that this is an assessment," RenegadeRenamon reminded them. "In order for you to even start planning for your real mission, you must pass, even if it takes you multiple tries. If you want to get it right the first time, I suggest getting a move on."

"But what are we supposed to do exactly? Just roam around, make camp, survive the night, and come back?" Satoru asked yet another question.

"I think that's exactly the point," Ben rolled his eyes. Without warning, he began walking in a seemingly random direction, Cisnemon obediently following his lead.

"Last time I checked, this was a team effort!" Keiji called and ran up to Ben.

"I guess we're off then?" Emi joked.

"I guess so," Lepusmon smiled.

She waved goodbye to the other digimon before she fell into step with Rieko after catching up with the gang.

For the first few minutes, they trekked past the endless line of infected undergrowth, not really attempting to do anything. Then, once they reached a clearing, Lepusmon stopped and coughed loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Now that we're out of earshot at the moment," he said, "I think we should actually do something instead of just wandering about."

"Agreed," Ben added.

"Makes sense to me," Itazuramon chipped.

Lepusmon nodded and tapped his right foot against the floor while swaying one of his ears back and forth. He did that a lot while he thought.

"Here is a good place to set up camp," he pressed. "We should then split into groups to find food, water, wood, other possible resources, and we should probably have the last team stay and guard the camp."

"Cisnemon and I will go try and get some water," Ben offered.

"That's not necessary," Cisnemon butted in. She craned her long neck backwards and pushed it roughly forward. "Aqua Stream!"

A burst of water erupted from her beak and hit the ground, creating a small pool at their feet.

"I am NOT drinking _that_," Keiji spoke.

"Just because it came out of my mouth doesn't mean it's unsanitary!" Cisnemon hollered, clearly offended by Keiji's comment.

"Well, I'm not drinking it either, so I'm going to find water by myself if I have to," Ben proclaimed and headed for the trees. Cisnemon eventually followed, but her mood was obviously very foul.

Lepusmon simply disregarded what happened and continued, "Satoru and Bambimon can go fetch wood for a fire, Rieko and Amaimon can handle the food, Keiji and Itazuramon can look for anything else, and Koemi and I will stay behind."

"How come we get the hardest job and you two get the easiest one?" Keiji complained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do as your told unless you want to fail," Lepusmon ordered, not bothering to answer.

"But aren't we going to be the most vulnerable though?" Emi spoke.

Lepusmon ignored her, his eyes fixed on Keiji.

"Fine," Keiji grumbled. The teams split up afterwards as they were covered by the abundance of pale plants. The exception was Bambimon.

"I'll be there in a moment," the deer informed his partner. He then strode up to Emi and his expression became serious. "Don't worry about a thing. Lepusmon is scarier than you think."

With that, he leaped off into the woods after Satoru, and Emi sat down on the floor near Cisnemon's pool, which had mostly been absorbed by the ground. She supposed that the Digital World needed it.

_Lepusmon can't possibly be scary, can he?_

For about half an hour, Emi and Lepusmon did nothing but look around. Lepusmon's ears were always alert though, so every few moments, he would prick his ears even further and place a paw over one of the grenades on his sash before putting it back down and returning to his original position.

Wanting to break the silence, Emi pondered, "If you were stuck in there for most of your life, what did you do?"

"Mostly trained in the larger rooms with Leomon or RenegadeRenamon. When we were alone, however, we didn't do much. As you've probably seen, some of us don't get along too well. When we were smaller though, we would sometimes play tag or hide-and-seek, but we were always punished by Centarumon for doing so."

"Why?"

"Since we hatched from our digi-eggs, we've been trained to save the Digital World and nothing else. We were the last surviving eggs before Primary Village was completely infected. In other words, we're the last hope. We've been taught to think that way all our lives, and since then, fun and personal enjoyment has never been a top priority for us."

"Oh..." Emi sincerely felt bad for Lepusmon. He reminded her of Ben, in a way.

Just then, Lepusmon's ears shot up and his paw went flying to grasp a grenade. "Someone's here," he stated. "And they're not from our group."

Emi jumped to her feet, taking her digivice out from her hoodie pocket and awaited any instructions from her digimon.

Lepusmon threw his head back and sniffed the air. "A pack of Goblimon, at least eight of them, all definitely infected," he found out.

"What do we do?" Emi nervously asked.

"We wait. If they come near us, we attack, if not, then we leave and warn the others. They could be anywhere, and these digimon have been programmed to kill and infect."

Emi nodded. She held her breath as leaves rustled nearby. She could see green heads topped with mohawks from her vantage point. After a couple of minutes, the noise faded away and Lepusmon's body relaxed slightly.

"Let's go and find the rest. There's no way one rookie level digimon can defeat an entire squadron of Goblimon."

"...Okay."

"Follow me." Lepusmon got down on all four feet and scurried in the direction that Ben had gone in with Cisnemon. Emi ran after him, praying that her heavy feet wouldn't be heard by the Goblimon.

Lepusmon led her through the forest and for someone who rarely went out, he sure knew how to navigate the area. His focus was remarkable, but it only made it harder for Emi to keep up her pace.

Finally, he stopped abruptly at the edge of a small river whose water didn't look too appealing. "They passed by here," he observed. "They couldn't have gotten far."

"Weren't you two supposed to be guarding the camp?"

Emi turned around to see Keiji and Itazuramon approaching them. In their arms they carried what looked like hollowed out pieces of fruit.

"And I thought Rieko and Amaimon were in charge of food," Emi lectured.

"That doesn't mean that we can't get hungry while doing that! Besides we figured that Ben needed something to carry the water in so we just ate the inside. That's what we came here for in the first place."

"There's no time for this," Lepusmon interjected. "We've spotted a group of Goblimon close by and we need to find the others before they do."

"Goblimon?" Itazuramon's eyes slitted and he unfolded his small wings. "In that case, there's no time to waste."

Lepusmon sped off once more, following the river bank this time. Itazuramon was running just as fast, only inches away from the rabbit digimon. It was odd to see him so determined and battle-ready after seeing his goofy side, but it was probably because of the training he had received by Leomon.

It wasn't long before they heard a scream. Emi recognized it immediately as Rieko. The screeching continued with the sound of little explosions.

"That way!" Lepusmon yelled. Emi was already worn out, and Keiji likewise, but they kept running. It had been Emi that convinced Rieko to stay, so she felt responsible for her friend. If anything happened to her, she was sure she could never get over it.

They broke through the undergrowth and Emi caught sight of Amaimon at last, Rieko cowering at the base of a large tree with food littered beside her. As Lepusmon foretold, there were eight Goblimon trying to deal some damage to the hummingbird digimon.

They were about the same size as the other digimon with green bodies and arms that were entirely unproportional. Their heads were topped with bright red mohawks and a large gaping mouth only added to their scary appearance. They wore brown vests and loin cloths and carried a sturdy club in one hand.

Amaimon fought them off bravely, her once sweet features replaced by threatening ones. Her attacks were fierce and her voice firm as she cried, "Tiny Gust!" She slapped her wings together and opened them back up, releasing a good amount of wind that was barely visible to her opponents.

It hit two Goblimon squarely on the chest, pushing them back a little. They didn't make any noise at all, just got back up and charged.

"Bunny Grenade!" Lepusmon revealed himself and threw two grenades at the same Goblimons. Apparently, they had taken several hits before because they disintegrated shortly after into small red particles.

_He just killed them..._

"E-Emi!"

Emi's thoughts were interrupted by Rieko's relieved stammer. Emi sprinted over, stretching her hand out for her friend to take.

"Spark Cannon!" she heard behind her. Itazuramon was creating an orange orb between his paws, then pushed them forward so that the orb shot a beam of light and destroyed another Goblimon.

"Those were the only ones that I continuously hit!" Amaimon declared. "The rest are going to be tougher to beat." Emi could tell that she was exhausted, but she was still able to keep herself in the air.

"Fall into defensive positions!" Lepusmon ordered. "We're too outnumbered right now. Bambimon and Cisnemon should be on their way now."

Amaimon and Itazuramon nodded. Amaimon flew to the back, her back to Rieko and Emi. Itazuramon and Lepusmon moved up and just stood there.

"What are they doing?" I puzzled.

"We're using energy conserving methods," Amaimon explained. "The stronger digimon are at the frontline and only aim to negate attacks rather than make the first move. Their only goal is to make sure that little to nothing gets past them. They don't attack unless needed to. The weakest, which is me at the moment, guards the objective, in this case you and Rieko, and is only used as a last defense. Normally, we'd have more levels, but we're missing a couple digimon for that so we'll have to make do with two."

"But can't the Goblimon just charge at them?" Rieko pointed out, still trembling with fear.

"We've learned that infected digimon don't work that way. They can't produce any real strategies and can't think for themselves either. They attack like machines, taking turns and switching positions according to a predetermined order."

"If that's the case, then why don't they just attack? Wouldn't it be easier that way?"

"Not necesarilly. The infected have a higher defense and can withstand strong attacks. Not only that, but they also have a Rage Mode which is activated once it has sensed large numbers or a particularly threatening digimon. The Rage Mode allows them to strike out blindly, and it can cause serious damage if hit with directly. We have to play it safe until Bambimon and Cisnemon arrive. It shouldn't be too long now."

"Have any of you seen Keiji?" Itazuramon called out, realizing that his partner wasn't anywhere near.

Emi shook her head. "I was sure he was right behind me."

"Actually, I'm behind them!"

Emi watched in horror as she spotted a flash of red hair dashing towards the battlefield opposite them. He leaped up and landed squarely on a Goblimon's shoulders. He then finished off his move by smacking its head with his fist.

"Idiot! You're going to activate its Rage Mode!" Lepusmon screeched, but it was far too late to warn him now.

"Rage Mode...?" Keiji raised an eyebrow in confusion. Emi sighed. Of course he hadn't been around to listen to their plan.

The Goblimon's eyes turned a blood-red as it raised its club. Keiji saw this and quickly jumped out of the way before it could land on his head. Instead, it hit the Goblimon next to it, setting off a chain reaction. Soon, all five digimon were swinging madly at each other and Keiji was still stuck in the midst of it all.

Rieko screamed and began crying into her hands. It was one of the time that she needed comfort, but neither Amaimon nor Emi was prepared at the moment.

"So much for a plan," Lepusmon growled. "Time for rescue procedures."

"We don't have enough digimon yet-" Itazuramon tried to counter, but Lepusmon gave him a cold stare and the dragon digimon changed his mind.

"Amaimon, abort this procedure and stay with Koemi and Rieko," Lepusmon commanded.

"Understood!" Amaimon chirped.

Lepusmon ran forward on all fours as fast as he could while Itazuramon sent attacks at the rampaging Goblimon, careful not to hit Keiji by mistake.

Keiji was pressed against the floor, trying to crawl away from the commotion. However, Emi could see that it wasn't an easy task and that he was having trouble moving at all.

Because of Itazuramon's attacks, the Goblimon averted their attention to him and Lepusmon was able to weave his way past and get to Keiji. Of course, Keiji was too big to carry on his own so Lepusmon had to drag him away since Keiji's legs didn't seem to be cooperating too well.

Once he was safely, or as safe as he could get at the moment, on the edge of the woods where Rieko and Emi sat, Lepusmon joined in on the fight. He sent a couple more grenades flying, both hitting with wicked accuracy. After that, he used physical strength to help Itazuramon push them back.

"Aura Flame!" Itazuramon cried. He opened his beak wide to throw a burst of purple flames at his opponents.

Emi closely paid attention to the battle and noticed something that disturbed her. Itazuramon had a few attacks in store, but besides throwing grenades, which she could barely count as a special ability that only Lepusmon had, all her partner could do was make contact with his body. He was at a serious disadvantage since the Goblimon weren't stable, and while Itazuramon could keep a distance, Lepusmon didn't really have a choice.

"Lepusmon are a species of digimon that are relatively weak," Amaimon read her mind. "Before, they were part of a group that tended to crops and plants, so there was no need to fight most of the time. They can develop little to no attacks, so they normally depend on physical strength to survive. Lepusmon has worked especially hard to fulfill these requirements so that he won't slow the team down."

Emi smiled grimly. _So he and Ben are more alike than I thought..._

"I can read minds," Amimon added. "Just so you know."

Emi stopped thinking immediately and blushed fiercely. She made a mental note to never think of anything embarrassing with Amaimon around.

"Need any help?"

Emi laughed in relief as Bambimon and Satoru sprinted up to them. Bambimon instinctively joined the fight, but Satoru held back and went to check on Emi and Rieko.

"You two okay?" He was obviously tired, beads of sweat running down his face. Even if he was an athlete, who knows how far they had to run from to get there?

"We're fine for now," Emi responded for both of them. "We just want this battle done and over with."

"Thunder Hoof!" Bambimon pounded his hoof against the ground and a large streak of lightning broke the ground apart before hitting a Goblimon, which was destroyed on impact.

"Alright!" Satoru beamed.

"Aqua Stream!" Cisnemon burst out of nowhere and shot an attack at a Goblimon that was giving Lepusmon a hard time.

"Thanks!" he called back.

"Took _you _long enough," Satoru emphasized as Ben popped out as well.

"Well, _you_ don't have the pickiest and most proud digimon for a partner," Ben complained. "She insisted that every river or pond we came by was far less sanitary than her own water, so she led me way past the mile radius."

"Does it really matter?!" Rieko cried out, her hands on either side of her head. "We're all going to die so it doesn't matter! If not today, then tomorrow. I just wanna go home!"

"But that's not true," Satoru tried to reassure her. "They're winning, see?"

"She's right," Keiji murmured. His eyes were pale and his lips were trembling. "I was almost dead meat back there..."

"That's because you're stupid. If we follow directions, we should be fine," Ben said it like it was a fact.

"And how do you know that?" Keiji challenged.

"I'm here."

"So?"

"Watch." Ben took a few steps and seemed to analyze the battlefield. Lepusmon and Itazuramon were attacking head-on, while Cisnemon and Bambimon took a more strategical approach byonly attacking when they had a clear shot. And even if they _did_ manage to reach its target, they were negated most of the time now that their Rage Mode was activated. The Goblimon obviously had the upper hand.

"Cisnemon! Move forward, you won't be able to hit anything from such a far distance! Itazuramon and Lepusmon, make sure to fall back so that she doesn't need to hold back."

"Um..." Itazuramon did as he was told, but not before sneeking a look at Lepusmon to see what he thought of it.

Lepusmon nodded. "It makes sense to me."

"No way!" Cisnemon refused. "I don't take orders from _him_."

"Cisnemon, just listen to what he says!" Lepusmon directed.

"I said no!" the swan digimon persisted, stopping her attacks completely.

"Listen, Cisnemon, this is the most sen-" Bambimon never finished his sentence. While the digimon were distracted, a Goblimon hit Bambimon straight down on his side. He fell to the floor, in an awkward position. He didn't move, so Emi assumed he was unconscious.

"This is bad..."

"Bambimon!" Satoru rushed into the clearing.

"Satoru, get back! It's dangerous!" Emi reached out, but she missed, and before she knew it, Satoru was next to Bambimon, trying to haul him onto his back. The Goblimon, however, had other plans. Itazuramon was already on his way over, but he wasn't fast enough.

It struck at Satoru instead, hitting him on the leg. A sickening crack could be heard as he collapsed clinging on to his knee, tears stinging his eyes.

_Are we really that fragile? I thought humans were supposed to be superior, and yet..._

Itazuramon immediately raced even quicker. The Goblimon prepared to finished his unfinished job, but Itazuramon pushed him away with his powerful tail and threw Satoru onto his back while carrying Bambimon in his arms.

"Cisnemon, they need your help!"

"But you're outnumbered already! There will be only two of us left and there are still

"Don't forget that this is your fault," Itazuramon snapped back.

Cisnemon frowned, but obeyed, flying over to Emi and the others. "Stand back."

They did so and Cisnemon raised her wings above Bambimon and Satoru while muttering something under her breath. Her wings began to glow faintly, and Emi could hear that the pair's breathing was easing up.

"So you can read minds, and she can heal?" Ben mused to Amaimon.

Amaimon didn't answer and instead turned to Rieko. "I need you to push the button."

"Why? Once Cisnemon gets back in there you'll-" Rieko tried to say.

"Cisnemon's healing takes up a lot of energy. Her healing process is very complicated. She has to restore, replace, or sometimes create data to help those two. Besides, Satoru is a human. She'll have to figure out a way to manipulate his data to make him better. Even then, he might take a while to recover," Amaimon lectured.

"No!" Rieko shoved her digivice behind her back, shaking her head. "If I do then you're just gonna get hurt!"

"I need to help. Can't you see that?" Amaimon reasoned, attempting to get the digivice.

"Don't you dare push that button, Rieko!" Lepusmon grumbled. "If you do, then we'll never pass. These are only rookies, we can handle them."

"Agreed," Cisnemon mustered.

"We won't pass the test if we're all dead!" Amaimon argued. "Rieko, just push it!"

"Don't listen to her!" Lepusmon countered as he managed to destroy another Goblimon.

_Only three left._

Although Emi assured herself over and over that there was no way they could lose, she knew that they had one foot off a cliff. Lepusmon's moves were lagged and less coordinated than they were before, and Itazuramon was exhausted enough as it was. Could they really finish them off?

"Fine! I'll fight them without the extra help!" Amaimon stormed off into the battlefield. She couldn't even fly.

"Amaimon come back!" Rieko sobbed. "I don't want you to die!"

Emi was about to comfort her when an explosion shook the tree that she was sitting against. All positions fell apart as a Goblimon broke past the two fighting digimon and ran towards them. Cisnemon was too slow.

It looked like it was really the end.

"Fist of the Beast King!"

The Goblimon disintegrated before her. Emi recognized Leomon's voice.

"Sand Whip!" came another cry.

Emi didn't need to see to know what happened. RenegadeRenamon stood in the middle of the clearing, Lepusmon and Itazuramon close by.

"I guess we didn't pass, huh?" Satoru croaked.


	5. Secrets part 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks to all of you for your support up till now. I've got to say, I think this came out pretty nicely. The end is sort of iffy, but everything else I believe is really solid. Please point out any mistakes if I have any.**

**Also, for my sae reviewer, I lied. The reason they're special chapter won't be until the next one. Sorry! It was originally planned for this chapter, but I decided to put it off for one more due to time constraints. It will be included in the story though, so please be patient. **

**Alright then, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Not once did Ben look up as the group was led back through the wilderness to the digimon headquarters. Shame burned inside him. It was not like he blamed himself for the disaster, in fact, he thought it was all Cisnemon's doing. Still, the fact that they had been defeated so easily bothered him. What bothers him even more, however, was that he was useless during a fight.

Lepusmon limped beside him, his ears laid back in irritation and frustration. Ben could tell he felt the same way as him. Even if he wasn't Ben's partner, he felt a deeper connection to him than Cisnemon by far. Maybe it was because they were alike in many aspects, or maybe it was just because anyone other than Cisnemon would do.

Emi walked on Lepusmon's other side, barely paying attention to where she was going. Ben knew her well enough to know she was daydreaming. About what, he had no idea.

Rieko had calmed down a little, and her face was full of regret and guilt, especially since Amaimon refused to speak to her. Keiji was equally depressed, causing him to lag behind. Itazuramon had to look over his shoulder every few minutes to check up on him.

Satoru was hanging from Leomon's shoulder, barely conscious. Cisnemon's healing had helped somewhat, but he was still in pain and would need further treatment later on. Bambimon was fully awake, but couldn't walk properly quite yet, so he was propped up on Leomon's other shoulder. He pretended to sleep to hide his embarrassment, but he wasn't doing such a good job of it. His snores were _way_ too loud.

They were nearly at their destination when Lepusmon burst out, "Why did you suddenly butt in like that?! You didn't even give us the chance to-"

"Don't make up excuses. Everyone could've been killed because of your stubbornness," RenegadeRenamon silenced.

"Stubbornness?!" Lepusmon fumed. Ben could practically feel the anger radiating off of him. Up to that point, he had thought that Lepusmon was just a determined, focused, and cute little blue bunny. Now, he was beginning to discard that image.

"Yes, stubborn!" she lectured. "You encouraged Rieko not to hit the button! If we hadn't stepped in, the battle would have resulted in more casualties than we'd like."

Ben had to disagree. "Although I do understand your point, I don't think it was entirely his fault. Just to be fair."

Cisnemon's attention immediately perked. "Don't even go there-!"

"Cisnemon was really the one at fault here," he continued. "Because of _her _stubbornness, Satoru and Bambimon were injured and, as a result, she, too, had to be taken off the field in order to cure them."

"Shut up."

"And even then, I don't see much of a difference."

"Shut up!" Cisnemon screeched and sent a shot of steaming water at Ben. It missed by a couple feet, but her reaction was what frightened him the most.

"Cisnemon..." Lepusmon murmured, disbelievingly.

"What is wrong with you?!" Ben yelled. Normally, he preffered to keep his voice in check, but now, he was about to lose it. He had had enough of the swan digimon that was supposed to be his partner.

"Look, I'm sorry if I almost shot your head off your body, but I've had it with you!" she honked. "I already feel guilty enough for doing what I did, so you don't have to rub it in."

"Cut it out, you two," RenegadeRenamon commanded. "This isn't the time to start arguing. You can save all of that for when you explain all of what happened to Centarumon."

* * *

"I'm disappointed in all of you," Centarumon scolded.

Ben and the rest sat on the sandy floor of a chamber they'd never seen before. Apparently, it was the training room, but Ben knew it wasn't the right time to even consider analyzing it. Beside Centarumon, Leomon, RenegadeRenamon, and Elecmon stared disapprovingly down at them. Elecmon's gaze was softer, though, and appeared to trying his best not to check up on them.

"Not only did you fail the test, but you let your pride get in the way of the most important thing: protecting each other," he added.

"We're really sorry, Centarumon," Lepusmon inched his face closer to the floor. "But if you'd only give us one more chance-"

"I won't say that you'll never get that chance," Centarumon interrupted, "but before you can have a retake, you must first receive more training. The way you are now, you won't be able to fend for yourselves."

"But it was just a careless mistake! We can prove to you that-"

"My decision is final." And with that, he left the room.

"We'll start your training tomorrow morning," Leomon announced. "Until then, the sleeping chamber is the next one over. Bambimon, you should be fine by tomorrow, but Satoru will have to get some crutches. We'll be sure to have them ready by tomorrow. Cisnemon, remember to work on him a little more. Meanwhile, please do your best to get some rest."

"But we've only been gone for three hours at the most!" Itazuramon whined.

"The battle has taken a toll on all of your bodies," Leomon countered. "Some more than others."

"Do you understand?" RenegadeRenamon pressed.

"Yes, m'am," Cisnemon grumbled.

He and RenegadeRenamon exited the room. Elecmon gave the group one more longing gaze, then chased after them.

Ben really loathed the position they were in.

* * *

Ben didn't remember when he fell asleep. Leomon had been right; his body had been begging for sleep by the time they trudged to the chamber next-door. The last thing he remembered was seeing Cisnemon healing Satoru again and noticing that Lepusmon was whispering urgently with Bambimon, Itazuramon, and Amaimon. After that, his vision blurred and he assumed that slumber had taken over.

At the moment, he found himself in a dark and enclosed space. There was nobody in sight but himself and although he couldn't see anything, if he reached out, he could feel rough walls scratch against his palms. Instantly, his claustrophobia kicked in.

He desperately punched the walls, but everytime he tried to push them down, they only became stronger and his fists got bloodier. His breaths came in heavy pants, beads of sweat rolling down his face. He was scared, and he hated that feeling. Fear was weakness, but he couldn't manage to get rid of it. The walls seem to be closing in on him at an agonizing pace, and he was sure he was going to die in that place, alone and scared.

And then _her _voice resonated around the space.

_**"Benjiro..."**_

And then another.

**_"Wake up."_**

* * *

Ben groggily opened his eyes, relieved that it had all been nothing but a dream. All around him, the digimon were waking everyone else quietly. "Wah?"

"We're leaving," Lepusmon explained, pressuring him to stand.

"What do you mean, we're leaving? I thought we were going to train _tomorrow_."

"Just trust me. We need to leave as soon as possible," Lepusmon hissed. Ben could tell he was hiding something, yet he didn't press any further and got up, dusting his clothes off.

Emi was doing the same nearby, and Satoru couldn't stand, so he just sat upstraight with his arms as support.

"I'm not going," Ben heard Keiji state.

"Of course you are," Itazuramon tried dragging his partner by the arm.

"I'm not either," Rieko joined in. "I'm going to ask Centarumon to send me home in the morning... or night. I don't even know anymore."

"Listen, Centarumon already explained that he doesn't have enough energy stored at the moment to do so. Yesterday was just a misunderstanding, that won't happen again," Itazuramon encouraged, but his voice came off as annoyed so it didn't do much help in the end.

"Well, listen to this," Keiji replied. "You haven't kept your side of the deal, so neither will I."

"Are you seriously using that as an excuse?" Itazuramon rolled his eyes. "I already told you that I'll take you on a ride when I evolve."

"But I've been thinking about it and... I don't want you to evolve."

Ben sighed. Keiji really was an idiot. Why on Earth, er, not Earth, would he not want his digimon to evolve? Did he want to get himself killed? "That completely contradicts what you just said."

"If you evolve, that means you're too weak to handle whatever danger you're in the way you are now. How strong will your opponent have to be before you're forced to step it up? You said that my presence, made you stronger, so maybe if I'm not here, then you won't put yourself in any harmful situations," Keiji cleared up.

"I will."

"That ruins my whole plan."

"That's what I live for."

"Then I really don't have a choice then?"

"Nope."

"In that case, you win."

Keiji got to his feet as well, slapping on his cap and adjusting the goggles around his neck. Ben had to ask him about those sometime.

"Rieko?" Amaimon asked.

"You're going to follow Itazuramon's example, aren't you?" she choked.

"I'm afraid so."

"You'll keep _your _promise, right?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Please don't say that."

"Promise."

Rieko then slipped on her boots and nodded without saying a word.

"Good, we're all ready," Lepusmon said to no one in particular.

"Um, not exactly. How am _I _supposed to move anywhere? You don't expect me to hop on one leg, do you?" he pondered.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Amaimon flew away for a few seconds towards the corner of the room and came back with some ugly-looking crutches in her claws. Ben was just surprised she was able to handle the weight. They were made out of skinny, yet sturdy, branches and everything was stuck together with a gooey material that he assumed was sap.

"I'm supposed to use _those_?"

"It's the best we could do," she shrugged and left them at his feet.

With some effort, he was able to push himself upward and lean on the crutches. This allowed him to move and he was soon comfortable enough to stand. "The handles are sticky..."

"You'll have to deal with it, I suppose," Bambimon said.

Lepusmon ignored the interaction between the two and quietly ordered everyone to pack up any useful items.

The group obliged and started to fold up blankets and pick up the make-shift pillows. Bambimon ended up carrying the left-over food in a pack that he slung over his back. He still had a slight limp, but the sleep had really worked wonders on the guy. Satoru walked around in his new crutches, gradually getting used to them.

Ben did as he was told as well for once, but he did so while avoiding Cisnemon as best he could. He hadn't forgotten her actions, and he wasn't ready to confront her about them just yet.

Once everyone was truly ready, Lepusmon gathered them together and motioned for them to follow him.

"Wait," Keiji stopped the team.

"What now?" Lepusmon grumbled.

"Although I agreed to go, I want to know where we're going to first."

"We're going out. We're going to begin our quest."

"But I thought we didn't have permission for that?" Emi hesitated, a tone of confusion in her voice.

Lepusmon turned around and gave a sneaky grin. "We don't."


	6. Secrets part 2

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! I got behind on some other projects, and I sacrificed my time dedicated to this fort other things D': . Forgive me!**

**Either way, I'm satisfied with this. My first draft was horrible, but with some editing, it turned out decent enough. I really hope I surprised you all with the ending! **

**Special thanks to sonofthetrigod for being so supportive and reviewimg every chapter. You rock!**

**Next chapter or two will be told from Satoru's POV, hurray! **

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

The group was able to sneak past the long corridor and enter room they had been in before, the one with the large metallic door. They had taken off their shoes, and Lepusmon had to attach two pillows at the end of Satoru's crutches so that they wouldn't make as much noisein order to do so, but it was worth the effort.

"How do you suppose we open the door without being too loud?" Emi asked. "Last time, it wasn't exactly soundless."

"There is no way," Cisnemon answered. "Therefore, once there's a gap big enough for us to get through, we run for it."

"Run?" Satoru looked down at his feet.

"Don't worry, we have a plan for that," Bambimon assured him. "Cisnemon is going to fly Rieko since she's the lightest for a little bit, just to get farther away, then land and keep running if there is ever the need. Itazuramon is taking you on his shoulders, Emi is riding on my back, Keiji and Satoru will run with us, and Lepusmon is going to defend the back while Amaimon scouts ahead."

"Are you sure it'll work?" Ben whispered. It didn't seem very thought out. Then again, it wasn't like the had any better ideas in mind.

"Not by any means. But we're willing to take that risk; we don't have time to waste. Who knows how long it will take for the Dark Mist to find a way to invade and overwhelm us? We need to find those Element Stones in order to save this world," Lepusmon murmured. His fists clinched at his sides, but they loosened up seconds later. "Bambimon, you better start cracking that thing."

Bambimon nodded and trotted over to the control panel, pushing buttons on it as soon as he was settled. It was a rather amusing sight to see the flambuoyant fawn do something as serious as hacking a system, but it wasn't the first time Ben had been surprised by the unexpected actions of the digimon he though he knew well enough.

It was only a few minutes before Bambimon gave the thumbs up (not literally of course). The team took their positions immediately. Ben got as near as he could do the door to make a dash for it once it was open. He was depending on his physical capacity to make it, and he also had to keep a look out for Keiji to make sure he didn't accidentally separate from the rest.

"Go!" Bambimon announced, loud enough for everyone to hear, yet hard for anyone else to hear. He pressed down on the final key and ran to the door, urging Emi to get on his back.

The door slowly began to creak open, it's two sides letting a pale ray of light escape. Ben prepared himself. The door was almost at the point where he could squeeze through...

Voices and footsteps could be heard from the hallways. It was only a matter of time before Leomon or Centarumon came marching on their parade.

He hadn't even noticed Keiji speeding up until he called out to him, "Hurry it up, Benji!"

* * *

He was sure that he wouldn't fit through the slit in the door, but he managed somehow. Amaimon was ahead of them, flying swiftly past the trees. Bambimon caught up to them, and after a quick peek behind him, he could see that Lepusmon, Itazuramon and Satoru had as well. He didn't dare look up in case he tripped (Amaimon seemed to forget that they were in a forest with sticks and roots all over the place), but he hoped that Rieko made it out alright.

He wasn't sure why he was even tagging along. If he wanted to, he could turn back and ask to return home. Keiji and Rieko had practically been bribed, he was poditve that Emi was just trying to have fun, and he wasn't sure what Satoru's reasons were, but _he_ didn't have anything holding him back. He didn't even care what happened to the Digital World, especially Cisnemon. He really should've been gone by now.

**_"Benjiro..."_**

Ben shook the voice from his dream away. It was too late now. If he just let himself be caught, he'd look like a fool, and even if he was in a different world altogether, he didn't want to be looked down upon by anyone, not even artificial life forms made out of data.

He could feel the adrenaline pounding through his veins, his feet carrying him away one stride at a time. He had never been much into sports or exercise, but he was more fit than anyone would think he was. Keiji was keeping up the pace, but he was no athlete either. Soon, his body would have trouble dealing with the stress.

"Tiny Gust!" Amaimon cleared away some heavy brush out of the way.

"They're nearly here!" Lepusmon exclaimed from the back. "They're much faster than anticipated, and we're going to have to carry out Plan B."

"There's a plan B?" Satoru squeaked.

"You should know that by now," Lepusmon rolled his eyes. "Turn on your digivices, and split up when I say so. I'll find Cisnemon and Rieko."

"Split up?" Emi didn't seem sure of that decision.

"Just press the top left button once you think you're far away enough. Trust me!"

Everything afterwards happened so fast that Ben could hardly register what he was doing. Lepusmon took out four grenades from his sash, larger than what he'd seen from him before. He threw them forwards all at once, enfolding the surrounding area in thick, gray smoke. Ben didn't consider waiting for a signal at that point.

He ran as fast as he could to his right, almost falling into a prickly bush in the process. He couldn't hear anyone behind or in front of him, so he assumed he was alone. It wasn't his preference, but he had to deal with it. Attacks could be heard from their splitting point, and he could only hope that everyone else had been able to slip away.

He continued jogging aimlessly until he was sure he was far away enough. He stopped and collapsed on the barren floor. He was exhausted, desolated, and without anything to defend himself with. Then, he remembered Lepusmon's instructions and took out his digivice from his jeans pocket.

He was supposed to push the top left button, but he wasn't going to press anything if he didn't know what it was going to do to him. The Digital World really hated him, though, because it had other plans for him.

A snapping twig told him that someone was near. "Lepusmon?"

"Sparkling Thunder!" Elecmon burst out, hitting a tree a few feet away. The adorable and fatherly digimon wasn't so adorable or fatherly anymore.

_Sh*t. New plan._

He quickly pushed the button. Nothing happened at first, but after a while, he began to feel weird. An odd sensation coursed through his body for a split second, and the next thing he knew, he was at the base of a tree, Keiji, Amaimon, Satoru, and Itazuramon beside him.

"Woah!"

"Yeah, we did the same thing too," Keiji grinned awkwardly. "You should've seen Satoru when he got here. He-"

"Dude!" Satoru interrupted. "I told you not to say anything!"

"Yeah, yeah," Keiji laughed. He definitely looked better than he did that morning, despite the whole escapade fiasco. It didn't make sense, but Ben was glad nonetheless that he wasn't moping any longer.

"I guess Lepusmon already had the destination set on these things," Itazuramon observed, poking at Keiji's digivice.

"Huh?" Ben puzzled.

"The didigvice also works as a data transportation device. It doesn't work very well for long distances, but it's a pro at close range movement. You have to have a location set beforehand, though, so I'm assuming Lepusmon got a hold of them and did his magic when we weren't looking, just in case," Amaimon explained.

Before Ben could add to the conversation, Rieko and Bambimon appeared out of thin air.

"What just happened?" Emi grumbled. She had landed hard on the floor. Apparently, Bambimon was high enough for her to have a not-so-graceful landing.

"It seems we were teleported. It's a shame it always ruins my fur..." Bambimon replied. His fur was bushed up again, so he instantly began grooming himself.

"It's about time you got here! I figured you were deer meat by now," Satoru crawled over, patting his partner on his head, helping to smooth out his bad hairdo.

"Not yet, I'm afraid," Bambimon smiled, appreciating the assistance.

Lepusmon, Cisnemon, and Rieko arrived seconds later.

"I took some effort, but we made it," Lepusmon reported, dusting off his fur.

"Why didn't we just press that thing from the beginning?" Rieko spoke before hitting herself on a branch by accident in her stupor.

"Teleporting takes up a lot of the energy that the digivice holds," Cisnemon stated. "The energy stored should be enough for at least four close-range teleportations. It should only be used as a last resort, since there's no way to know if we'll never need it on future missions."

"Oh, I see," Rieko nodded in understanding.

"Are you okay?" Amaimon made sure that Rieko was comfortable.

"Yeah, I think so," she checked herself over. "Bambimon made sure he didn't run under any low branches."

Ben was hit by a wave of jealousy. Satoru and Bambimon were so close, and it looked like Keiji had filled the few holes he had in the bond he shared with Itazuramon, as well as Amaimon and Rieko. If Emi and Lepusmon weren't great buddies, at least they accepted each other.

On the other hand, he and Cisnemon shared no connection at all. Why was that so? It wasn't like it mattered, really. The humans' job was to simply _be there_. It wasn't like there were any steps they had to follow in order to do so. _And yet..._

"Benji, rub my back. I hurts."

"It's Ben or Benjiro."

"Benji. Rub."

"No."

"I hate you. Rieko, rub."

Rieko complied.

"What now, exactly?" Ben questioned.

"We catch up on sleep. We set out tomorrow morning," Lepusmon reported.

"Where?"

"Haven't thought that part out quite yet."

* * *

This time, the digimon did all of the work.

Satoru offered to help, but with his leg in the shape it was in, that wasn't going to happen.

Itazuramon created fire with his attack while Bambimon set up the sleeping gear. The team reached a concensus that Cisnemon's water was perfectly sanitary (more or less) and she also helped stop the aching on Emi's back and Rieko's head. Amaimon split up the remaining food among themselves. It was obvious that Lepusmon had had this all planned from the moment they left.

Satoru was already asleep soon after dinner, Bambimon huddled next to him. Rieko was off in dream land the moment her head hit the ground, and Amaimon took advantage of that to make a nest in her hair. Keiji tried to get a conversation going, but eventually gave up when he saw that everyone was too occupied with their own thoughts. He fell asleep right after, and Itazuramon joined him too. Emi was the one to doze off next, and Ben laid down on his blanket, trying to do so as well.

However, he found he couldn't. It was partly due to his dream the night (or was it day?) before, but it was also because he was feeling anxious. Lepusmon didn't have a plan, and neither did he. He didn't know enough about the world at the time to come up with one. Even if he did know a little more, he want positive that he'd have one ready anyway.

It unsettled him to know that they were going in blind. Maybe they should have waited, maybe he should've gone home. He could die in this place, and he didn't want to yet. Not before he accomplished his goal.

The sound of crunching leaves gave him an excuse to stop trying. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lepusmon and Cisnemon waking up the sleeping digimon and leading them a little farther up the hill they were on. They were probably going to discuss some sort of strategy, so Ben figured it was his opportunity to ask more questions.

He got up, careful not to wake anyone up. He slowly walked in the relative direction the digimon had gone, but was distracted when someone took his arm.

"Where are you going?" Emi rubbed her eyes groggily with a finger. "Where are the digimon?"

"They're over there. I'm just gonna ask a few questions."

"I'll go with you. I can't sleep."

"You were asleep when I checked five seconds ago," Ben sighed.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Whatever, let's just go."

And so, he ended up dragging Emi along by the arm until he could see the sparks from another fire their partners had apparently made. They were gathered around it, speaking in hushed voices. He was about to present himself to them from the until he heard something that caught his attention.

"Do you really think this was such a good idea?" Bambimon voiced, his eyes not daring to look up from the floor.

"Of course!" Lepusmon exclaimed. "How could it not be? I thought we were going to save this world once and for all."

"I never said we wouldn't!" Bambimon looked apologetic, lifting a hoof. "It's just that... maybe we should've stayed for some more training. I'm not so sure that we're prepared as a team for what's to come."

"We'll train ourselves," Cisnemon defended. "It can't be that hard."

"Benji... What are you waiting for?" Emi yawned.

"Shh..." Ben lifted a finger to his lips.

"I sort of agree with Bambimon," Amaimon continued. "Even if we do train, I'm not confident that the humans will ever be able to work well as a team with us. Nothing changes the fact that they aren't the right ones."

_Aren't the right ones?_

He and Emi both stopped breathing for a second, restraining themselves from blowing their cover. What did they mean by that?

"We're going to have to work with them either way," Itazuramon shrugged. "They aren't bad people, they just need to learn to trust each other and, even more so, us."

"I'm **not** trusting _that_ child," Cisnemon flapped her wings in irritation. "He won't _listen_. If only Centarumon hadn't messed up, then I'd probably have a great partner. One that actually pays attention to what I have to say."

This was too much for Ben to take in. "What do you mean by 'mistake,' exactly?!" He poked his head from the bush, the rest of him following closely behind.

"I thought we were brought here to enhance your powers," Emi said. "Right, Lepusmon?"

"Well, yes, but-" Lepusmon wasn't allowed to finish his sentence.

"Oh, it's _you_," Cisnemon turned her back to him.

"That isn't what I asked," Ben walked over and roughly turned her around.

"Ah, so you really want to know, do you?" Cisnemon mocked.

Amaimon flew over and placed a wing on Cisnemon's shoulder. "Cisnemon, there's a better way to-"

Cisnemon shook the gesture away, staring directly into Ben's eyes. "Fine. I'll tell you. But don't blame me when you regret it."

"Just spit it out." Ben's heart was pumping harder than he thought was possible. He always made it a point to stay calm and collected at all times, so why was he disregarding that now?

"Centarumon spent a considerable amount of time researching all, of the children in the Real World whose information he had at his disposal. He came up with every possible factor, and made sure that whomever he chose would work well with their assigned partner and as a team. It was lucky enough for him, that all of those children were on that bus."

"Cisnemon, you should really stop now," Itazuramon warned, his eyes pleading with her.

"Your point?" Ben pressed. He needed to hear shat she was about to say next.

"He might of added an extra 0 by accident, or maybe he carelessly put in a wrong coordinate somewhere," Cisnemon drawled out. "Whatever the case may be, at the end if the day, Centarumon made a mistake. It might've only been a difference of a few seats, but that miscalculation caused you all to be transported here."

"And that's a bad thing?" Ben raised an eyebrow, amused with Cisnemon's way of beating around the bush.

"Normally, any human would do. However, after your last performance, this had turned out to be a bigger problem than expected initially." Cisnemon took a breath then, pausing for a moment.

The group all stared at her with dread. Bambimon and Amaimon couldn't even bear staying, so they left for the original campsite before the final predicament could be laid down.

"You were never supposed to come here," she finally announced. "The Real World sent the wrong children to save the Digital World."

Ben took back his previous thought: This wasn't amusing at all.

His heart stopped beating altogether. His knees buckled under him. Tears were streaming down his face before he realized it. Why? Why did he want it to not be true? Why was he showing weakness in front of the one being he especially didn't want to see him like this?

_And here I thought I was actually gonna contribute to anything. I'm useless here too, aren't I? _

Ben was glass, Cisnemon was the bat, and her words were the ball. In the couple of seconds that it took for Cisnemon swing the bat, Ben came crashing down, just like the glass.


	7. Tsumemon's Flight part 1

**A/N: Ugh, I'm sorry for such a long wait. Honestly, besides being hit with a case of writer's block, I wasn't too enthusiastic about working on this chapter (part 1 really). As you will be able to tell my writing was sucky beyond compare this time around. **

**I don't plan on discontinuing the story, but I have considered revising it and/or rebooting it because I came up with ideas that would have added to the story. Nothing that would change the plot, just make it better. **

**But I've decided not to just because I know that if I do, I'll end up revising the whole thing after another chapter or two. So, I'm gonna write the whole thing, and if I want any changes, I can do that afterwards. **

**Oh well, no more stalling. Enjoy! (Or not)**

* * *

Keiji was not a light sleeper. But Satoru was. Therefore, it wasn't long before his friend's frustrated voice woke him up.

Groggily, he sat up and looked around. He saw that Emi, Ben, and all of the digimon had disappeared. Before he could panic, however, he realized that they were probably the source of the smoke that was rising from close by.

_Why are they over there? We have a fire right here..._

"What's all that racket?" Keiji yawned, now realizing that he could hear raised voices in the distance.

"Yeah," Rieko agreed, rubbing her eyes. "Where's Amaimon and everyone else?"

Satoru shrugged, then pumped his fist in victory as he was able to get on his feet properly with his crutches. "No idea. My guess is that they're somewhere over there," he replied, pointing in the general direction of the apparent fire. From what Keiji could tell, he was probably right.

"Let's go check it out, then," he suggested, acting as if he hadn't woken up seconds before.

"But I just got up!" Satoru complained, grumpier than Keiji had ever seen him. "Besides, you guys move too fast. Remember that you have a handicapped child in your group!"

_I guess he gets cranky when he doesn't get his sleep._

"You can go first, then," Rieko resolved the problem.

"Fine..." Satoru grumbled. "I'm sure there's nothing to see, though. Keiji probably just snores too loud."

"I snore?"

Without answering, Satoru lead the way, and later rather than sooner, they arrived at their destination.

"Hey, how come you guys are-" Keiji began, but stopped once he analyzed the sight before them.

Ben was on his knees, shivering slightly despite the fire's warm glow. Beside him, Emi was patting his back comfortingly. Itazuramon, Cisnemon, and Lepusmon sat around the flames, expressionless.

Keiji slowly made his way over to Itazuramon, uncomfortable with the situation. "What happened?"

"Don't speak with the liars," Ben piped up, composing himself a little. "They're not worth your time."

"Liars?" Rieko raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that? And where's Amaimon?"

"Yeah, and Bambimon too," Satoru joined, not seeing his partner anywhere.

"Not sure," Lepusmon answered. The group fell into an awkward silence once more.

"Uh, why is everyone so quiet?" Keiji laughed nervously. He turned towards his partner and asked, "Can you fill me in?"

Emi stood, tears threatening to escape from her eyes. "Cisnemon broke it to us."

"Broke what?" Rieko questioned, growing worried. The dark atmosphere was beginning to take its toll.

Ben swore and, with sunken eyes, explained, "They all lied to us. We were all mistakes."

"Can't anyone give a straightforward answer nowadays?" Keiji frustratedly burst.

"Fine, I'll give you one," Ben shot back, "Apparently, we came here because of an error. We weren't chosen or even expected to be here, but we are. It's like we're in an 'improv' play where they just kind of have to work with bad props."

_Is that it? Why are they making such a fuss?_

"You're kidding me, right?" Rieko stammered, searching wildly for some sort of reassurance. "You're not seriously telling me that I didn't ever have to come to this horrible place? That I could have stayed home and not have anything to do with this whole mess?"

Before anyone could respond to that, Bambimon and Amaimon appeared, clearly worried.

"Hey, have you guys seen-" Bambimon didn't finish his sentence. After glancing briefly at Satoru, his ears flattened in shame and his eyes stared down at the ground. "You found out, didn't you?"

"Amaimon?" Rieko trembled. Satoru had never seen her so angry, or angry at all for that matter. She was either always terrified, shy, nervous, or just depressed. Not mad.

"Rieko, I..." Amaimon drifted off, landing on the floor.

"Take me back right now!" Rieko demanded, clenching her fists. "I don't care how long it takes, I want to go home. Then, you can stay here and wait for your real partner. You'll probably like him or her more than you ever did me."

"That's not true," Amaimon tried to explain.

"It's because I'm a coward, right?" Rieko whispered, crying freely now. "It's because I'm scared of everything, and insecure, and always depend on someone else. Because I'm just a burden and because I cry a lot. Because I'm selfish and I hate it here and I'm screaming at you right now."

Amaimon's expression turned stone cold as she answered, "I understand that you hate me, the Digital World, and our mission in general. I see why you would want to go home to your family and a familiar environment. However," Amaimon paused for a while. She took a deep breath, then continued, "I cannot allow you to leave."

Rieko wasn't expecting that. Apparently, no one else did either.

"Amaimon, please calm down," Bambimon quietly scolded her.

Amaimon ignored him and kept going, "I know I'm much smaller than you are, but don't forget that I am still more powerful. The other digimon and I have been entrusted with the fate of the Digital World, and if you are the key to helping me save my home, I will do anything and everything to keep you here. I don't care if you're scared, or hurt. If this mission fails, you still have somewhere to go to. We don't. Therefore, I cannot take you back."

Rieko didn't answer to that. She just sat down and remained quiet, not moving at all.

"Are we supposed to be affected by this?" Keiji spoke out. He didn't want to get involved in any more disputes,

"Why wouldn't we?" Satoru puzzled, his back turned to Bambimon.

"I thought that trusting them was the first rule when it came to accepting this mission in the first place," Ben snarled.

"I don't care if I was chosen or not, honestly," Keiji admitted. "Sure, Itazuramon lied to me, but it's not like he didn't have a good reason for it. If my home was on the line, wouldn't you do the same, even if it meant lying? I wanted my destiny to be something more than being stuck in an orphanage."

"I'm not smart, have trouble in school, it's not like the orphanage is gonna pay my bills for me, the list goes on and on. If fate decided to pull some strings, so what? Perhaps we were chosen, just in a different way. I wanted to be something more, and that's what I got. I'm not gonna question it."

"It's ironic, though. You were the one who wanted to go home just yesterday." Ben was obviously not convinced or moved by Keiji at all.

"I admit that although I was excited at first, I was scared. I was afraid that I was gonna mess up my one opportunity for greatness. So when I did just that, not only was I embarrassed and ashamed, but I was terrified that it would happen again. That things would go horribly wrong because of me. Those thoughts caused me to go into a state of paranoia."

"But when Itazuramon told me that without me, he wasn't going to be able to fight, I realized that I was still needed. If I didn't go, that wasn't going to stop him. He was going to risk messing up for the sake of what he kept dear. So, I figured that I could risk it myself for Itazuramon's sake."

"I guess you're right..." Satoru snuck a glance at his partner.

"It doesn't make a difference really," Emi convinced herself as well.

"Although I see your reasoning, I'm not changing my attitude," Ben wouldn't let go of his grudge.

"Fate sucks," was all that Rieko said.

* * *

With everyone back at their first campsite, reconciliasation began to occur between some of them.

Satoru and Bambimon had become old chums again once they had some time to themselves, and Lepusmon and Emi had reached common ground. Rieko was still treating Amaimon with disdain, but she wasn't bursting out at her at the very least. Of course, Ben's situation hadn't varied, and he made sure to keep his distance from Cisnemon.

Keiji and Itazuramon, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened.

Before they drifted off to sleep, Itazuramon mumbled, "Thanks. I really appreciate what you said back there."

"Don't mention it," Keiji grinned.

But despite the good vibes at the end of the day, Keiji had a nightmare that night.

* * *

"Keiji! Keiji!"

Keiji groaned as he flipped over to his other side. "Itazuramon, I lost a lot of sleep yesterday, so don't dare wake me up now."

"But-"

"Shut up!" Keiji insisted, yet opened his eyes slightly to make out Itazuramon's distressed figure.

_Distressed?_

"We're under attack!"


End file.
